Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 421

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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421. The amount must have been entered correctly, right?

December 24, 1997.

“Market’s closed!”

At Noh Hee-won’s cry, Jung Hwan-yeop stretched his arms high above his head and yawned.

“Phew. Another day bites the dust.”

“Make anything today?”

“Heh heh. Who do you think I am?”
“Heh heh. Who do you think I am?”

Jung Hwan-yeop spun his ballpoint pen around while wearing a smug expression.

“Come on now. There are staff members around—what’s with calling me a day trader?”
“Never mind that. Show me today’s profits.”
“Right away.”
“Yeah.”

With a lukewarm tone, Jung Hwan-yeop moved the mouse with a sullen expression, showing today’s trading profits.

[+11,500,000￦]

After checking the amount, Manager Choi Ho-geun finally smiled.

“I specialize in swing trading, but I do some day trading too, you know.”
“Swing trading is my specialty, but I do some day trading too, you know.”

Choi Ho-geun, the Manager, shot a reproachful look at Jung Hwan-yeop, the Director, who had once again puffed up with pride and shrugged his shoulders.

“That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it?”
“Hey. Isn’t that a bit too cold-hearted?”

When Jung Hwan-yeop pouted his lips as if feeling hurt, Choi Ho-geun tapped the shoulder of the seated Jung Hwan-yeop.

“Still, seeing that our team has the best profit margin means Jung Hwan-yeop hasn’t kicked the bucket yet.”
“Of course not.”

Jung Hwan-yeop’s expression brightened immediately, and he lifted his chin with pride.
Watching this, Manager Choi Ho-geun let out a soft chuckle and clapped his hands lightly to draw the team’s attention.

“It’s Christmas Eve, so everyone needs to leave early. Make sure you organize all the vouchers without missing anything and hand them over to Miss Noh right away.”
“Yes.”
“Understood.”

Yu Seok-hyun and Hong Jae-hee answered simultaneously and immediately sat down at their desks, beginning to organize the day’s trading records.
Normally, they would be exhausted from the mental strain of buying and selling stocks with sharp focus, wearing expressions of fatigue, but since tomorrow—Christmas—was a holiday, everyone seemed to be in an unusually buoyant mood.
Manager Choi Ho-geun watched his team members moving busily and raised one arm to check the watch on his wrist.
He had made a reservation at a family restaurant that had recently opened in Korea, planning to dine out with his family for the first time in a while, and it seemed there was plenty of time left without any risk of being late.

‘I heard all the female employees wear leather vests and accessories while serving?’

Perhaps because it was a foreign chain restaurant, the uniforms the staff wore were quite distinctive.
Manager Choi Ho-geun recalled his wife insisting they absolutely had to go because the salad bar there was supposedly incredible, and he smacked his lips in anticipation.

‘Honestly, wouldn’t it be better to just go eat Korean beef instead?’

For Manager Choi Ho-geun, who believed that Korean beef was the pinnacle of fine dining, his wife’s argument made no sense.
But sometimes silence was necessary for the sake of domestic peace and to get through next year without incident.
That was the wisdom of a married man.

“Since it’s Christmas Eve, the roads will be incredibly congested. It’ll take quite a while to drive my wife and kids all the way to Deungchon-dong.”

As he was roughly calculating the time in his head, Jang Myung-ho, the Finance Department manager, entered the office with one of his subordinates.

“Good work, everyone.”

Manager Choi Ho-geun, who had been standing with his hands on his hips, looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“What brings you here, Manager Jang?”

Jang Myung-ho responded with a smile.

“The year-end performance bonuses have come in, so I came to distribute them.”

The moment Jung Hwan-yeop heard the words “performance bonus,” his ears perked up and he shot to his feet.

“I was actually wondering when it would come since I hadn’t heard anything! And it arrives right on Christmas like this.”

His expression, eyes sparkling with delight, was almost overwhelming.
Over the past several months, we had achieved results greater than ever before, so the other team members wore equally expectant faces.
Manager Choi Ho-geun’s heart raced at the mention of the performance bonus, but he kept his composure and cleared his throat with a measured sound.

“You could have sent your subordinates, but you came in person.”
“The Fund Management Department’s bonus amounts are quite substantial, so I thought it would be burdensome to leave it to the junior staff. That’s why I came myself.”
“Hmm? Isn’t it usually just a statement of account?”

Manager Choi Ho-geun blinked and asked in return.
Normally it went straight into the account like a regular salary with only a statement distributed showing the amount, so it was natural to be puzzled that they had brought cash.
Finance Department Manager Jang Myung-ho smiled knowingly.

“Generally that’s the case, but the president instructed us to deposit half directly into accounts as usual and distribute the remainder in cash.”
“Ah… is that so?”

Manager Choi Ho-geun’s mouth stretched into a wide grin.

“My, the Finance Department staff must have their hands full distributing cash individually.”
“Not at all. If it’s work like this, we’d do it a hundred times over.”

Finance Department Manager Jang Myung-ho responded with a hearty laugh, showing no sign of annoyance whatsoever.
Withdrawing cash from the bank, carefully counting out each amount, and placing it into envelopes for distribution would normally be quite tedious, yet he seemed genuinely pleased.
Manager Choi Ho-geun, catching on to why, beamed at him warmly.

“Well, I’ve been talking too long. I need to attend to the remaining work, so I’ll finish up quickly and be on my way.”

Finance Department Manager Jang Myung-ho turned and gestured to the subordinate who had come with him.
The subordinate then opened the bag in his hands and distributed envelopes with names written on them one by one, collecting signatures of acknowledgment.

“Well then, everyone have a wonderful Christmas.”

Finance Department Manager Jang Myung-ho left the office with a cheerful greeting, his subordinate in tow.

“Phew. Our president really understands the circumstances of married men.”
“What do you mean by that?”

Noh Hee-won tilted her head with an innocent expression and asked.

“You didn’t deposit all the performance bonus into the account—you took half of it out as cash.”

Jung Hwan-yeop waved the performance bonus envelope in his hand and chuckled.
When Noh Hee-won still looked confused, furrowing her brow, Jung Hwan-yeop lowered his voice as if sharing a great secret.

“You get a decent performance bonus, but if it all goes into the account, it’s not your money anymore—it becomes the wife’s money. But if you receive it in cash like this, you can slip it into your pocket and keep quiet about it. For married men who have to live on the allowance their wives give them, isn’t this the perfect opportunity to build an emergency fund? Did you see Manager Jang laughing and leaving just a moment ago?”
“Good grief.”

Noh Hee-won’s expression showed she was at a loss for words.

“Once you’re married, you shouldn’t hide anything from each other. What’s all this?”
“Men always have expenses they find difficult to disclose to their wives. You’ll understand once you get married, Miss Noh.”

For some reason, even Manager Choi Ho-geun was nodding his head in agreement with Jung Hwan-yeop’s words.

“But Manager Jung, you’re not even married yet.”
“Heh heh heh.”

Jung Hwan-yeop raised his index finger and wagged it left and right like the male lead of a popular drama that had aired recently.

“I know all about it.”
“Come on.”

Seeing her skeptical response, Jung Hwan-yeop spun his chair around to look at Yu Seok-hyun and spoke.

“Deputy Manager Yu. You get what I’m saying, right?”
“Well….”

Yu Seok-hyun glanced at Hong Jae-hee sitting next to him and offered an awkward smile.

“I’m not sure….”
“Tsk tsk. Well, with her watching you with wide eyes right next to you, you won’t be able to build an emergency fund even if the company gives you the chance.”
“Manager!”
“Goodness, my ears are about to fall off.”

Jung Hwan-yeop made a fuss and teased him.

“Our Miss Hong has quite a commanding voice. She’s got the makings of a general.”
“Manager Jung, you really think so?”
“Impressive, truly!”

With a grunt and a thumbs-up gesture, Hong Jae-hee’s expression soured visibly.
Seeing this, Manager Choi Ho-geun chuckled, prompting Yu Seok-hyun to hastily change the subject with an awkward expression.

“I had high expectations, but the envelope doesn’t seem very thick.”
“That’s why you’re still a rookie. It’s obvious—there’s a check inside, just like last time.”

Manager Jung Hwan-yeop stroked the envelope in his hand with casual confidence.

“Heh heh. Well then, let’s see how much it is.”

Manager Jung Hwan-yeop hummed cheerfully as he tore open the sealed flap of the envelope.
When he pulled out the contents, a check emerged—exactly as expected, not cash.

“See? I told you so.”

Manager Jung Hwan-yeop’s body went rigid as he checked the amount written on the check, his smugness evaporating instantly.

“Huh?”

Manager Jung Hwan-yeop rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, wondering if he’d misread it.
Looking at the check again, his jaw dropped.

“This is insane!”

Manager Jung Hwan-yeop gasped sharply and shot to his feet in shock.

“What’s wrong?”
“That. That right there.”
“?”

Manager Jung Hwan-yeop pointed at the check on the desk with a dazed expression.

“This amount is correct, right? It’s filled in properly?”
“Of course it is.”

Manager Choi Ho-geun laughed with a teasing expression and spoke.

“Why? Are they all checks for a million won?”

When Jung Hwan-yeop pulled out the checks, I’d glimpsed more than ten of them, but it was impossible they were all worth a million won each—so it was just a joke he’d thrown out.
The team members present also laughed and added their own comments.

“Come on, no way.”
“That would be amazing. Though it’s definitely not.”
“Ha ha. Right?”

Among the team members laughing brightly, only Jung Hwan-yeop remained with a dazed expression.
Only then did Manager Choi Ho-geun sense something was amiss, and his face stiffened awkwardly.

“Surely not… No, that can’t be right?”
“They’re not million-won checks.”
“Well, of course not.”
“They’re ten-million-won checks.”
“…What?”

In that instant, Manager Choi Ho-geun froze completely, and silence fell over the office.

“T… Ten-million-won checks?”

Yu Seok-hyun asked in a trembling voice.

“Yeah. All ten of them.”
“Gasp!”

As Yu Seok-hyun made a choking sound, Hong Jae-hee and Noh Hee-won also widened their eyes and covered their mouths.

“Oh my!”
“Really? Truly?”

Jung Hwan-yeop’s expression turned unusually serious as he nodded.

“Yeah. It’s real.”

Hong Jae-hee couldn’t believe it and quickly tore open her performance bonus envelope.
Inside, along with a statement folded in half, five checks emerged.

[₩10,000,000 (Ten Million Won)]

Though fewer in number than Jung Hwan-yeop’s, each check was clearly for ten million won, and Hong Jae-hee cried out in excitement.

“My goodness! Is… is this right?”

The others quickly checked their performance bonus envelopes as well.
Yu Seok-hyun also had fifty million won like Hong Jae-hee, and Noh Hee-won, who handled back-office operations, had a single ten-million-won check in her envelope as well.
Holding such a large sum for the first time in her life, Noh Hee-won’s hands trembled as her face went pale.

“Is… is this really for me? You’re not taking it back, are you?”
“Calm down, Hee-won!”

Meanwhile, Jung Hwan-yeop, whose initial shock had subsided slightly, clenched his fists to suppress the grin spreading across his face.

“The CEO really is generous! Isn’t that right, Manager?”
“Huh? Ah. Yes.”

Manager Choi Ho-geun replied with an awkward expression.

“You seem surprised by the ten-million-won check too, Manager.”
“That’s… yes.”

Manager Choi Ho-geun gave a vague response and hastily stuffed the check back into the envelope.
Then, watching his still-excited team members, he raised his voice.

“That’s enough chatting. If you don’t want to stay late at the office, finish the settlement quickly!”
“Yes!”
“Understood.”

Perhaps because they’d received far more in performance bonuses than expected, the team members’ voices brimmed with energy.
Unable to hide their smiles, they resumed their work, and Manager Choi Ho-geun returned to his desk and sat down.
After swallowing hard, he took the check out of the envelope again when no one was looking.

[₩100,000,000 (One Hundred Million Won)]

I wasn’t mistaken—those were genuinely three bearer checks worth 100 million won each.
Not just one, but three of them, and since the first prize for the housing lottery was 150 million won, this was money you’d need to win the lottery twice in a row to receive.
Yet here I was, receiving such an enormous sum as a single performance bonus!
Manager Choi Ho-geun held them in his hands, yet couldn’t bring himself to believe it was real.

‘Wait… could this be…?’

When I pinched my thigh gently, the sharp sting confirmed this wasn’t a dream.
Having verified this was reality, Manager Choi Ho-geun pressed his head against the desk monitor, barely suppressing the laughter that kept threatening to burst forth.

‘I made absolutely the right choice following the chairman!’

It was truly the best decision of my life.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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